Flavored drinking straw machine and method



y 1956 s. F. RABIN ET AL FLAVORED DRINKING STRAW MACHINE AND METHOD 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1954 STANLEY ERAB/N 8 MART/N SC/SO/PE/G INVENTORS.

HUE'BNER, BEE'HLER WORREL 8 HERZ/Gr By ATTORNEYS- y 3, 1956 s. F. RABIN ET AL 2,753,267

FLAVORED DRINKING STRAW MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Feb. 8, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 STANLEY Fl RAB/N 8 MART/N sc/soms/r, JNVENTORS.

HUEB/VER BEEHLER,

64 WORREL a HERZ/G,

By ATTORNEYS.

y 3, 1956 s. F. RABIN ET AL 2,753,267

FLAVORED DRINKING STRAW MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Feb. 8, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 STANLEY F. max/v a MART/N SC/SOREK,

INVENTORS.

HUE'BNE'R, BEEHLER, WORRE'L & HERZ/G, ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent FLAVORED DRlNKllNG STRAW MACHINE AND METHOD Application February 8, 1954, Serial No. 408,684

11 tClairns. (Cl. 99-138) This invention relates to methods and means for the manufacture of drinking straws incorporating therein a flavoring or other drink-modifying material. More particularly the invention relates to a means andapparatus for automatically flavoring or modifying a drink by means of a new and improved flavored straw construction, and a method and apparatus for manufacturing same.

It is an object of this invention toprovide a new and improved, simplified and effective method of flavoring a drinking straw.

Another object is to provide a drinking straw of the desired character described, having new and improved flavor or other drink modifying principle and material incorporated therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a straw and method incorporating simplified and effective principles of operation and use, rendering the resultant product on a mass production basis with a. maximum of economy and utility.

it is another object of the invention to provide a continuous and effective manufacturing method-and apparatus for obtaining a product of optimum utility for the intended purposes.

Another object of the invention is the provision in a drinking straw of new and improved flavoring means, facilitating flavoring of a drink with utmost efiiciency, effectiveness, economy and appearance without impairing or detracting from the efficacy of established manufacturing procedures for the straw body proper or the modification of conventional paper drinking straws embodying this. invention.

This invention also comprehends improvementsin prior art devices heretofore intended to accomplish generally similar purposes.

With these and other objects in view, the inventionconsists of the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

in the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a straw handling apparatus adapted for the insertion of flavored strip. of material into a straw and embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of said apparatus as from a position substantially at the right-hand side of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view of the cutting knife embodying this invention, viewed as on a line 3--3 of Figure 1, but showing the knife in a different position of operation.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view as on a line 4-4 of Figure 1, parts being cut away.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken as on a line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken as on a line 6--6 of Figure 1.

2. Figure 7 is a perspectiveview of a. completed. straw. Referring moreparticularly to the drawings set forth for the purpose of description but not of limitatiomthere is shown a machine adapted to. bemounted on any suitable frame (not shown), and effective for inserting: a

flavoring strip 19 into a paper drinking straw 11, as of a conventionalconstruction, resulting in a desired. flavored drinking straw 12.

The machine herein described preferably comprises generally designated hopper means 15, straw feed means; 16, knife means 1'7, flavored strip or. insert feedingmeans; 1'8, and plunger means 19. A motorZl provides the machineoperating force.

The hopper means 15 preferably comprises straight end walls vertically disposed. at 21', and corresponding. side walls 22 tapering downwardly to a throat: 23- of' a length adapted to receive the straws 11, and of a width freely accommodating one such straw, asillustratedimost clearly in Figure 4.

A roller 25 is rotated in the direction indicated: by the arrow in Figure 4 by any suitablemeans, not shown, and is equipped with a guard'26 by means ofwhich the straws 11- are fed, one ata time, past the roller 25 and a hopper wall 22, whence they pass downwardly gravitationally into the throat 23 of the hopper.

As the straws leave the throat 23 of the hopper, they are picked up one at a time by the straw feed means 16 and are positioned'and heldin a manner to permit: insertion of the flavoring strips 10. For such purpose the straw feed means preferably comprises a feeding roller 28 journally mounted at its oppo'site ends as in a frame block 29; Intermittent rotation of thefeed rollerZd is accomplished. as by means of a full gear 30, and bracket. 38, and a segmented gear 31, the former being keyed to the roller 28 and the latter to a common drive shaft 32'driven by the motor 2tl as bymeans of a pulley drive 33.

The drive shaft 32 likewise carries a cam 34 which intermittently actuates a detent assembly 315;

The feeder roll 28 is formed with longitudinal grooves 36 at circumferentially spaced positions, said grooves 36-which may be inany number desired-communicate with circumferential grooves 37, also in the roller 23; Fingers 39 extending downwardly, for example, from the hopper 15, engage Within said circumferential grooves 37 to release the straws in their finished condition 12, as illustrated most clearly in Figure 4. (See also Figures 1 and 7.)

A washer 40, or other suitable shoulder, is; provided for establishing the left-hand limit of the grooves 36, as viewed in Figure 1, and the straws 11 are adapted to abut thereagainst during the insertion of the strips 10, as will be described.

The left-hand end of the roller 28, as seen in Figure 1, is designated at 41 in said figure, and a detent 42 on the tripping mechanism 35 is adapted to selectively engage in the corresponding grooves therein, which optionally are continuous with the same grooves in the body of the roller 28 for indexing the roller 28 and said respective grooves 36 with the plunger means 19,, thereby properly aligning the grooves and hence, the straws contained therein with said plunger means.

Another groove 43 at the right-hand end of the roller 28, as seen in Figure. 1, is adapted to accommodate a compression member 44 in the form of a stationary shoe which partially extends into said groove 43, as illustrated most clearly in Figure 5, so as to compress. a corresponding. straw end 46 and render the same oval-like in crosssection, in a manner most clearly shown in Figure 4, to facilitate the insertion of the respective flavored strips 10.

The knife means 17 is preferably positioned laterally adjacent the straw feed means 16 and hopper means. 15. By way of illustration, the knife means comprises an upper block portion 48 adapted to reciprocate vertically, as on a shaft 49 and on guide pins slidable in sleeves 51 and 52, relative to a stationary section 50.

Aknife blade 54 is mounted in the upper block portion 48 to shear against one cutting edge 55 on the stationary block 50, so as to cut off sections in the form of said strips from sheets 56 of flavor-treated material, which term includes not only flavored material but any other desired additive to be introduced into the liquid which passes through the straw and before it reaches the mouth of the user.

The knife blade 54 has a flat bottom edge 58, which is normally held, during the closed position of the knife, in slightly spaced position super-adjacent the cut strip 10 (see Figure 3) to provide a guide for the strip 10, permitting longitudinal thrusting movement of the strip 10 into the straw 11, but preventing any undesired buckling of said strip 10. The knife 54 may also be spaced laterally from another edge 59, which together with the edge 55 forms a channel 60 in which the strips 10 are longitudinally slidable, as aforesaid.

Said strips 10 are slidable along the groove 60 and into the straws respectively positioned in the grooves 36 of the roller 28 by means of a finger 62 fixedly secured at one end, as in a block 63, and movable longitudinally as by means of a plunger rod 64 reciprocally mounted relative to the stationary block portion 50.

Links 65, 66, pivotally secured to the block 63 at one end and to a sleeve, or the like, 67, are movable by means of further links 68, 69, and arms 70 having a securement like the arm 66 fixedly to the sleeve 67, and to a crank 71, the latter being keyed to the drive shaft 32.

Said vertical rod 49 secured in the upper block portion 48 of the knife and slidable through the lower block portion 50 thereof, is reciprocatedfrom a normal position of elevation as shown, for example, in Figure 1, where it may be held as by a spring, not shown, to a cutting position with the edge 58 spaced upwardly from the strip 10as by means of a cam 72 keyed to the shaft 32 and a cam follower 73 in a linkage 74 secured to the frame as at 75.

Said sheets of flavor-treated material 56 are fed into the knife means from a container 80, positioned in front of the knife. Said container 80 is formed with a slot 81 in the bottom thereof, said slot extending longitudinally of the bottom and providing a clearance for suitably shaped lugs 82 secured to endless chains 83 driven as on sprockets 84, 85. Said sprockets are intermittently actuated through a shaft 86 intermittently actuated by the drive shaft 32 as through a dog 87 and ratchet wheel 88 in response to rotation of a cam 89 within the arms of a bifurcate pivoted cam follower 90.

The bottom 91 of the container 80 is continuous with a table 92 flush with the corresponding upper edge of the knife block 50 so that succeeding sheets 56 of said treated material make edge-to-edge abutting contact following their release by the lugs or dogs 82 at the back side of the container 80, as shown in Figure 2. A continuous feed of the sheets 56 is thereby afforded.

Operation In the operation of the above apparatus, straws 10 of plastic, waxed-paper, or the like, compressible form, are deposited in the hopper 15, whence they are automatically and gravitationally deposited in corresponding respective grooves 36 in the feeder rolls 28.

The detent mechanism 35 associated with the segmented gear drive -31 indexes and aligns the grooves 36 with the knife channel 60.

The knife 54 moves down to a position illustrated in Figure 3, thereby cutting off strips 10 of the sheet material 56 which is normally urged against the opposite wall 59 of said channel 60 by means of an intermittently actuated sprocket wheel and chain drive 8384, carrying dogs 82.

The knife 54 stays in said spaced position above the strip 10, thereby providing a guide into which the finger 62 is longitudinally and relatively rapidly moved by means of linkage 6566--6768-69, and crank 71 secured to the journally mounted shaft 32. The corresponding strips 10 are thereby moved into the corresponding grooves 36, in which a straw 11 has been deposited.

Said straw is compressed at one, at least, of its ends, e. g., 46 (see Figures 4 and 5), thereby causing the same to bulge laterally and providing an accommodation for the strip 10. Said strip 10 is thereby forced into and retained within the corresponding straw 11, preferably frictionally and by means of the inherent resilience of the straw walls and the frictional resistance offered by the strip 10 to edge-to-edge compression. The strip 10 is shown extending for only part of the straw length, but it may extend throughout said length, if desired, or slightly spaced from each end, and may comprise one or more thicknesses, with or without transverse or longitudinal crimping.

Upon receiving the respective strips 10, the completed straw 12 is ejected from its corresponding groove 36 in the feed roller, and rolls down an incline 95 to a packaging station, not shown.

As stated, the straw body 11 is preferably of a compressible construction and may be formed of paper or cardboard stock having a paraffin coating thereon, or it may comprise any other preferably somewhat resilient material such as plastic or the like.

The strip 10 and corresponding sheets 56 are preferably coated by any desired flavoring material which tends to dissolve readily when placed in contact with a moving liquid passing through the straw. Any suitable flavoring matter or effervescent material may be employed. The strips 10 can also be formed of an absorbent material similar to blotting paper in or on which the liquid-treating material, herein broadly referred to as flavoring, may be disposed.

The straw body may be of any cross-sectional shape, preferably round. The insert should be wider than the internal diameter of the uncompressed straw and preferably sufficiently resistant to the compressive forces of the straw as it returns to its uncompressed state, but narrower than the long diameter of the compressed straw, so as to provide a press or squeeze fit for the insert to retain the same frictionally within the straw. The elastic limit of the straw should not be exceeded in compressing the same to assure firm retention of the insert.

While the strip of insert material may be resistant to the compressive forces of the straw body, it may be bowed under said forces and, especially if resilient, will serve to retain itself within the straw with or without substantial distortion of the straws normal cross section.

This invention features the provision of a new and improved method and apparatus for inserting a suitable insert or strip of flavored material such as cardboard or blotter paper, a layer or coating of flavoring which is intended to be dissolved off the strip in response to the passage of a fluid through a straw retaining the same and past the flavored strip.

Although we have herein shown and described our invention in what we have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of our invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent structures and methods.

We claim:

1. A drinking straw comprising a tubular body element having resilient side walls and a self-sustaining elongated thin and flavor-coated strip element positioned longitudinally in said tubular body element with portions in frictional engagement with corresponding opposed inner side walls of the tubular body, one of said elements beaverage? ing held resiliently distorted by said engagement with the other element whereby to frictionally retain said strip in said tubular body.

2. A drinking straw comprising a tubular body element having resilient side walls, a self-sustaining, elongated, thin, flavored strip element positioned longitudinally in said tubular body element with its edge portions in frictional engagement with the inner side walls of the tubular element, the faces of the strip being spaced from the side walls of the tubular element, whereby said strip forms a partition across said tubular element, and passages for liquid are formed between each face of the strip and the opposite side wall of the tubular element.

3. A method of making a drinking straw with a flavored insert comprising the steps of continuously orienting a supply straws to form a stream or" straws, continuously feeding the stream of straws to a compressing station, laterally compressing at spaced time intervals one end portion, at least, of the body of a straw at said station to give the same a substantially oval cross-sectional shape within its elastic limit, inserting a strip of flavored material transversely resistant to the elastic return forces or" the compressed straw and of a size wider than the normal uncompressed internal diameter of the straw but narrower than the longest axis of the compressed straw into the laterally compressed straw with the width of the strip substantially parallel to the major axis of the compressed straw, and thereafter permitting the compressed straw to return to its normal uncompressed condition to retain the flavored insert frictionally therein.

4. A method of making a drinking straw with a flavored insert which comprises laterally compressing at least one end portion of a drinking straw to distort such end portion within its elastic limit and to extend it in a direction transverse to the direction of force, inserting a strip of flavored material longitudinally into the distorted end portion of the straw with the direction of the width of the strip extending in the same general direction as that in which such end portion of the straw is distorted, the width of the strip being at least as great as the original inside dimension of the straw in the direction in which it was extended but less than the inside dimension of the distorted straw in said direction, and thereafter removing the compressive force and permitting the straw to return to its normal uncompressed condition to grip the flavored insert and frictionally retain it within the straw.

5. A machine for inserting flavored inserts into drinking straws comprising: means for supplying drinking straws including outlet means for emitting one straw at a time, compression means positioned adjacent said out let means for receiving said individual straws and compressing at least one end thereof transversely to give said straws a generally oval cross-section, guide means positioned adjacent the compression means for retaining strips of flavored elements in axial alignment with said respective individual straws held by said compression means and in a manner that the edges of the strip correspond on each side with the respective small curvatures of the compressed straws, intermittently actuatable finger means in axial alignment with the guide means mounted for movement in a direction to move said flavored elements into said compressed straws.

6. A machine for inserting strip-like inserts into drinking straws which comprises means for compressing at least one end portion of a straw to distort such end portion and to extend its dimension transversely to the direction of the application of force, means for holding a straw while so distorted, means for holding an insert in substantial axial alignment with a straw with the direction of the width of the insert extending in the same general direction as the direction in which the straw has been extended, and means for moving the insert and straw relative to one another to cause the insert to be inserted into the straw.

7. A machine for inserting strip-like inserts into drinking straws as defined in claim 6 which includes a hopper for a supply of straws and means for feeding straws from said hopper to said compression means.

8. A machine for inserting strip-like inserts into drinking straws as defined in claim 7 in which the means for causing relative movement of the insert and straw to insert the insert into the straw are finger means, and which includes means for causing the finger means to engage the insert and to push it into the straw.

9. A machine for inserting strip-like inserts into drinking straws as defined in claim 8 in which the finger means includes a finger member mounted for movement in a path aligned with the straw and insert, and which includes means for causing said finger member to engage an end of an insert and push it into a straw.

10. A machine for inserting strip-like inserts into drinking straws as defined in claim 6 in which the compression means is positioned adjacent the outlet of said hopper and the compression means is also the means for holding the straws while distorted.

11. A machine for inserting strip-like inserts into drinking straws which comprises a hopper for a supply of straws, means for feeding straws from said hopper in cluding a rotary member having axially-elongated peripheral pockets for receiving straws from the hopper, means for intermittently rotating the rotary member, a compression member, means for causing the compression member to engage an end portion of a straw in one of said peripheral pockets while said rotary member is stationary and to apply a compressive force to said end portion to distort it and to extend its dimension transversely of the direction of the application of force, means for holding an insert opposite and in substantially longitudinal alignment with the transversely-extended end portion of a straw, with the direction of the width of the insert extending in the same general direction as the direction in which the end portion of the straw has been extended, and means for pushing the insert, while in such position and while the rotary member is stationary, into the transversely-extended end portion of the straw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,254,115 Brand Ian. 22, 1918 1,996,203 Hollingsworth Apr. 2, 1935 2,102,920 Savage Dec. 21, 1937 2,128,448 Wright Aug. 30, 1938 2,374,147 Weeks Apr. 17, 1945 2,402,476 Weeks June 18, 1946 2,557,181 Flack June 19, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 661,398 Great Britain Nov. 21, 1951 

1. A DRINKING STRAW COMPRISING A TUBULAR BODY ELEMENT HAVING RESILIENT SIDE WALLS AND A SELF-SUSTAINING ELONGATED THIN AND FLAVOR-COATED STRIP ELEMENT POSITIONED LONGITUDINALLY IN SAID TUBULAR BODY ELEMENT WITH PORTIONS IN FRICTIONALLY ENGAGEMENT WITH CORRESPONDING OPPOSED INNER SIDE WALLS OF THE TUBULAR BODY, ONE OF SAID ELEMENTS BEING HELD RESILIENTLY DISTORTED BY SAID ENGAGEMENT WITH THE OTHER ELEMENT WHEREBY TO FRICTIONALLY RETAIN SAID STRIP IN SAID TUBULAR BODY. 